Randy Orton was getting a huge heel push in 2009, running through the McMahon family on his way to one of the worst WrestleMania main events of all-time against Triple H. For the first few months of 2009 he was booked very strongly, so many were understandably annoyed when Shane McMahon returned and was able to put the fear of God into Orton and his Legacy cohorts. In a way, the mini feud killed all of the Legend Killer's momentum. Shane took on Orton at No Way Out that February, and if you take out the context of the angle and time it's a pretty darn good match. Shane came out swinging (as he needed to) but Orton swiftly took control. Being a Shane McMahon match this came with a No DQ stipulation attached, allowing all sorts of plunder to be used. The kendo stick is the most prominently used weapon here, with Orton even taking a shot to the throat at one point. Orton pulled out the win with an RKO after close to twenty minutes of action. He was the right winner of a match that probably shouldn't have happened. This match gets a lot of stick, and rightly so when the angle (including Orton, DiBiase and Rhodes having to retreat) is taken into account. But I'm not here to judge Shane McMahon matches against Dean Malenko classics or Shawn Michaels masterpieces. I'm here to judge Shane McMahon matches against Shane McMahon matches. As far as they go, this battle against the man who was terrorising his family stands up well.
Born in the middle of Wales in the middle of the 1980's, John can't quite remember when he started watching wrestling but he has a terrible feeling that Dino Bravo was involved. Now living in Prague, John spends most of his time trying to work out how Tomohiro Ishii still stands upright. His favourite wrestler of all time is Dean Malenko, but really it is Repo Man. He is the author of 'An Illustrated History of Slavic Misery', the best book about the Slavic people that you haven't yet read. You can get that and others from www.poshlostbooks.com.
